Pack-heating furnace.



O. W. BRAY.

PACK HEATING rummcn.

' APPLICATION TILED TERA), 1905. $853? Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTOR wn-msssas G. W. BRAY.

PACK HEATING FURNACE. AiPLIOATIOK rum) mum, 1905.

Patented Marl 7, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v INVENTOR (34/144 WITNESSES G. W. BRAY.

PACK HEATING FURNACE. APILIOATIOHI mum FEB, 9, 1905.

Patented Mar.7,191'1 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

1 I I l l l I l I I llrllllvllllllrl lllllllllLllll I VENYTOR WITNESSES Omnnns w.- zeninworlrrr'rsnune,rnnnsrrvanrii, '1 Ass renon in anemia sirnn'ra 'rIN sters co rA'nm-pr rrrrsnnne; rENnsYLvAiIIa. A conroanrrou erratum JERSEY.

-,,,,rncK-rriiarnve FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd Mal 7,1911,

Application filed February 9, 1905. Serial Nof244,870.

' of myimproved furnace; andFigs. 2 and 3'- are cross-sections on the lines IL-II and III-III respectively of Fig. 1.-

My invention relates to the furnaces emloyed for heating packs of sheets or plates. eretofore in such furnaces, the packs have been inserted through the same opening as that from which they were withdrawn after heating. This makes the operation slow inconvenient and requires the use of -"-'hi" hly skilled labor for charging the packs.

7 y invention is designed to cheapen the v 7 t of the heating operation and provide a furnace in which the metal may be fed in at one end and taken out at the other. end.

The piles of packs may be kept apart from the packs when separated, andthe operation may be carried on continuously and rapidly.

V .1 The charging operation is a purely meehanical one, not calling for the use of skilled labor.

, In the drawing, I show a double furnace,

' though it may be arranged either as a double or, 'asingle furnace. In the 4 form shown each chamber 2 is the same as the other,

and is provided with a floor. having shelves,

3 and 4. These shelves are preferably separated by a step or shoulder 5 and are prefcr -ably inclined toward each other; that is 4 the rear shelf 3 is inclined downwardly and 'jforwardly toward the center ofthe furnace "and the front shelf is inclined rearwardly and downwardly toward the center part of the furnace. The inclination of the rear 4 helf enables the packs to be more easily fed forward from the piles to be placed upon water-cooled pipes 6 ezitending fr'ornjthe ply pipe 7 upwardly and thence down-ward and inwardly through the cha rging* Opel 1' ings 9 to the rearend of the 'shelf'3,- wh'ence the pipes are bent backwarcllyto' forin the-1 portions 8 which extend to theoiitlet -pipe gg' I 10. Water is continuously circulatingq through these pipes and the pile of several packs rests on them externally until the operator pushes it in over the pipes t6 a oint where it drops and rests upon the 'shelf 3. 5 The feed-in openings are preferably provided with vertically-sliding doors 11 which may, be counter-weighted and raised and lowered by hand. The feed-out openings at the front end of the furnace are at the front upper end of the inclined shelf 4; and through these openings having the doors 12 the heater may draw a pack from the piles on the rear shelf and spread such packs in any desirable manner on the front shelf 4. Each pack when brought to a proper tern 'perature and condition is brought out through the feed-out-openings, and taken to the finishing mill.

'I have shown the furnace as provided below the hearth with a double-surface regen erator system, the air being heated before mixing with the entering gas. The "mixture enters the furnace through the inlet ports 13 at the rear end and passes out through the exit ports 14 at the front end. .In using the furnace-the packs may be. fed in in any desirable way, though 'I prefer to feed in a pile of said packs, these piles rest ing upon the rear shelf. Asbefore statedthe heater may separate these piles and distribute the packs upon the front shelf from which they are taken out. This front portion of the furnace is arranged so that the heater may turn the packs up so that they rest against the side walls and manipulate them in the usual manner. I

The advantages of my invention result from providing a pack furnace with 'a charging opening at one end and a feed-0ut 1100' opening at the opposite end, also from dividing the furnace bottom-into two different portions, at least one of which is inclined. The operationmay be carried on continu-- ously, the amount of skilled labor is reduced, 1'05 and the packs are evenly and uniformly I heated By arranging the inlet port or ports 13 at the rear,- any air which enters through the door or doors is carried up and consumed, thus. preventing scaling of the sheets from the oxygen of uncombined air.

Either one of the shelves may be madesubstantially j horizontal, and the furnace ma be varied in many other ways:

claim 1. A pack-heating furnace having "a rear charging opening and a front feed-out openmg, closures for saidopenings, a substan'- tially j continuous furnace bottom having a front ortipn, and 'a rear portion both arrange to receive the packsm stationary po-" SitlOlithQDQQIhfiIld water-cooled pipes at the vrear opening,-fo'rming anexternal pack supportand'xtending inwardly into the rear lend ofthe -furnace'bottom within the fur- .nace;'substantia]ly as described. r

2. A pack-heating furnace having a rear charging opening, and a front feed-out opening, the furnace bottom being divided transversely into two. portions, each of which is inclined longitudinally; substantially as described.

3. A pack-heating furnace having a rear charging opening and a front feed-out opening, the furnace bottom having oppositely inclined shelves with an intermediate step or shoulder between them; substantially as is described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

Y CHARLES W. BRAY.

Witnesses: 1

G. O. KIMBALL, i S. A. Davis. 

